Archive for the 'Book reviews' Category

August 25th, 2008 - Book review: Patriots by James Wesley, Rawles

Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse by James Wesley, Rawles is another of those post-apocalypse novels that I love. It’s quite different, however, from the others. This time, the main characters planned in advance! The book follows the apocalypse and the first few years afterwards, with flashbacks to the group’s founding and advance planning. In many ways, the book could be use as a blueprint for planning yourself (and surviving afterwards). The advance planning, in particular is very interesting–everything from one couple moving to land way out West to stockpiling food and supplies to choosing compatible vehicles (for easy maintenance, parts, and repairs). Another difference: it’s an economic collapse instead of war or environmental.

I have two major complaints:

1. The author is a former Army Intelligence officer and obviously a gun fanatic (enthusiast, he calls himself). Large sections of the book focus on guns, ammunition, bombs, and related weaponry, in great details. (There’s even a warning before the book starts about how the making of some of the things in the book is illegal in many places.) I understand the need for weaponry in post-apocalyptic situations. But I’m not really interested in reading about weaponry in such great detail. Despite this being so far out of my realm of knowledge, and interest, it has spurred me to be interested in at least learning how to shoot a gun. Presently, we own no guns and have no plans to do in the future. But if we ever do (Eric has greatly enjoyed target shooting in the past, both when he was in the Army as well as later with his friends in the police force), I would like to take a shooting course. But still, it got very tedious in the book.

2. If you had the choice to plant a garden or face 18 months eating solely from stockpiles which are mainly MREs, who in their right mind would choose the MREs? I was aghast that no garden was planted the first year (the apocalypse comes in the fall, IIRC, maybe spring, but enough time to plant and harvest that first year). One brief mention was made, but nothing was every actually done. Instead, they survived on MREs. From what I’ve heard, these aren’t the most pleasant meals, especially day in and day out, nor completely nutritious. Plus, if you did not know what the future held, wouldn’t it be best to keep the MREs around–they’ll last for years–in case of, oh, say, crop failure? Even a small garden would give you fresh food and variety for a few months, even if you eat everything and save nothing for the winter. Relatedly, they have no chickens, goats, etc. I think this goes along with #1–he obviously knows a lot more about security than about food production.

Oh, yeah, one other recommendation for a survival situation: When you run out of toilet paper, the next step for me wouldn’t be scratchy paper from catalogs (or whatever they used it from), but cloth. Way more comfortable as well as sustainable.

Overall, a fascinating read (excepting the weapons passages I skipped) that seems very realistic. I mostly enjoyed the characters, the plot lines, their solutions to problems, etc. I was definitely rooting for them ALL to survive and thrive. I did not want to put the book down!

Wesley, Rawles website has many details about the book. I read the Huntington House edition, which has been superseded by the Exlibris version which includes 2 more chapters.

The author’s last name is written “Wesley, Rawles” which made me curious. I was going to ask Eric if Rawles was some kind of Army designation, but never remembered to. I believe it is his own convention instead of hyphenating his last name. Towards the end of the book, a baby is born who is given a similarly comma-ed name, and the two names are the last names of his parents. Nope: Here’s his own answer from the FAQ: “I use the comma to make a distinction between my Christian name, and my family name. My Christian name (James Wesley) is my property. My family name (Rawles) is the common property of all those that share the Rawles bloodline, and our wives. ”

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July 3rd, 2008 - Book review: Alas, Babylon

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank is another post-apocalypse novel, only this time written in the early 60s about a nuclear war in the late 50s. Far more realistic than The Rising! For example, by the time the group is working on their survival, they spend the entire day (adults and children alike) working on feeding themselves, and they still go to bed hungry.

On the other hand, not quite as gripping a tale. I skipped many long passages of military-related prose. The characters weren’t nearly as interesting nor attractive to me. Perhaps because none of them were much like me, and all the women were fairly typical male portrayals of 1950s women (ie, quite sexist). It’s also quite racist, however the Black family is the most prepared for catastrophe and without their food supplies and knowledge of the land, the main characters never would have survived. The the main character somewhat understands this, but doesn’t make that much of it beyond one or two brief mentions. Quite obviously a book from the early 60s.

Despite that, a good apocalypse novel that I’d recommend.

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July 1st, 2008 - Book review: The Rising

I love post-apocalyptic books. Many are set in the future, long after the apocalypse. Lately, I’ve also been reading ones set in the present day (or the past, with the apocalypse happening during the 20th century). Unfortunately, many paint a pretty unrealistic picture of the characters’ ability to change lifestyles and survive. The Rising: Journeys in the Wake of Global Warming, by Tom Pollock and Jack Seybold, is one of those. A mostly excellent book, despite the shortcomings. I didn’t want to set it down, and spent one evening reading it from the time I got home from work till I went to bed, late, with 100 pages still left to read.

The premise is that in 2005, two more Antarctic ice shelves break off causing a sudden major rise in the sea level, beyond what was predicted. The story follows a bunch of characters (who of course come together before the end). (I’d swear I read another reviewers who had trouble keeping track of them– I didn’t–on Bloglines, but I can’t find it back.) Only one couple are farmers while the rest are typical Americans (plus an ex-con), but amazingly, they all come together on an estate and by the end of a year have become self-sufficient (sort of; I can’t reveal some plot twists).

Yeah, right. Like they could actually learn all of those skills–and teach them to each other–in the course of a summer and a fall.

The other part that drove me nuts is that one major character has an ability to see the future and then to heal. She teaches the latter to the others. So they don’t need a doctor anymore (although there is one in the party). This new agey part was quite annoying. I can live with the back to the land skills–most books like this get folks going on that part awfully quickly–but the book ends up relying on these extra-ordinary skills for the reason why this group survives. And for why they all end up together as well. They were “drawn” here because of their connection to these abilities. I think the book would have been far better if this part had been skipped. The doctor could have helped those who were injured and sick and it would have been more believable.

The inspiration for the book was an Astronomy Picture of the Day (a site I look at every day) of the Antarctic Ice Shelf Vista titled “It’s all gone but the mountains.”

I’d still recommend this to anyone interested in possible global warming outcomes–the science as well as the story are interesting and gripping. I’d read it again!

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June 30th, 2008 - Book review: We Belong to the Land

We Belong to the Land by Beulah Meier Pelton is a memoir of farming during the 20s, 30s, and 40s in Iowa. What I love most is that Beulah knows full well that “the good old days” weren’t all that great–from outhouses to no running water to backbreaking work. She tells it like it is (was). She talks about the delights and how when the opportunity came to quit farming she realized how much she loved it. But she also talks about the realities they face without pulling punches. (I skipped a number of bloody passages about birth and death on the farm.) It’s also quite funny; she’s not a “farm wife” and pales in comparison to many of her neighbors. It’s full of vignettes of their 18+ years (plus a few chapters about her grandmother and mother as well her childhood) as tenant farmers. Although only a little over 100 pages, I felt like I knew them by the end–and wish I could go meet them!

Actually, I wished they were relatives I could go visit; not too far fetched since my Mom’s family is all in Iowa. I recently read through the family genealogy looking for old fashioned baby names, and I don’t remember any Beulahs.

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June 3rd, 2008 - Book review: America’s Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money

I’ve subscribed to The Home Economiser newsletter for a couple years. The authors came out with a book recently, America’s Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money.

It’s similar to all the other books about being frugal and saving money and all those things I love to read about. I like reading these books because there’s always something that jumps out at me, even if the books seem quite similar. In this case, it was their dedication and ability to pay off a house in just 8 years. (I think they’ve done it twice, but I might misremember that. They might be doing it for house #2 right now.) It gives me the drive and desire to work on paying off ours. We’ve often talked about it, but then something else comes up–lead paint, adoption, you know those sorts of major events that cost tens of thousands of dollars that always crop up. (LOL. I certainly hope that doesn’t happen to other people like it does us!) I’ve come up with a possible budget post-baby that would allow us to put a little bit more each month towards the house.

And we’ve agreed that the money we used to put in the pickle jar would go towards the mortgage. When we started paying off the lead HEL, we switched the pickle jar to that. Then, when that was going well, we started splitting the larger monies like from rebates, testing, Deal Barbie, and credit card cash back in 3s–pickle jar, Eric, and me. (And the pickle jar fund morphed into funds for treating visitors. Which we ADORE doing.) Except for testing, the money will go 1/3rd to treating, and the rest towards the house. Since testing is considered work (we pay taxes on it, and we split child care the rest of the weekend), we’ll split that as before. We’re not talking large sums of money, but an extra dollar now on a 30 year mortgage saves a surprising amount of interest. (Quick estimate with 5% interest on a $100,000 loan,an extra dollar a month saves you $471 in interest on a 30 year mortgage. Or almost 1 month’s payment.)

Well, anyway, back to the book. It was a fun and easy read. One nice touch I’ve not seen in other books is that they have comments from their kids (5 teenagers/young adults). Sometimes they love what their parents do, and sometimes they complain a bit. Some of the information is very specific (such as the section about what discounts they’ve found with insurance companies), but all of the sections talk about how YOU can do the research and figure out how to save more money.

At the same time, they encourage having fun and not denying life’s pleasures. It’s about moderation and what you choose to spend your money on.

The book’s chapters cover specific topics including groceries, budgets, cars, housing, vacations, kids (I rather like their payday system for allowances), investments, and finally, attitudes. Much of the information has also appeared in their newsletters, but I still enjoyed reading it again all in one place. (Plus a lot was new since I’ve only been a subscriber for 2 years or so.)

I’m considering getting the book and newsletter as a gift for my brother and sister for Christmas. What do you think?

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August 31st, 2007 - How to be a Budget Fashionista by Kathryn Finney

How to be a Budget Fashionista: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous for Less by Kathryn Finney is a good book for frugle clothes shoppers, even for non-fashionistas like myself. I harbor a secret desire to dress fashionably, but I never have and I’ve realized I never will. I simply don’t care enough about clothes to do so. But, I do still need to buy clothes! She also has a blog, The Budget Fashionista which is constantly updated with clothing deals, trends, coupons, and more.

The book starts with some guidelines for budgeting–she does it in a neat way specifically aimed at people who love to buy clothes. Her advice is actually good for anyone starting to budget who likes to spend tons of money on anything. Create your budget based on what you spend (minus on X), look at the money you have leftover, and split it 50/50 savings and X (clothes, technology, books, etc.).

The next section is about finding your style. It includes some great tips for undergarments, and I’m putting one into practice already. (She recommends Lane Bryant for large busted women. And, while the rest of me doesn’t fit that store, it sounds like I may easily find the right bras there.) I also enjoyed the style quiz, even though I fit half and half into two categories (so I’m a Conservative Urban Trekker). She also covers body shape, accessories, and going through your closet.

The last section is about how to find bargain fashions. If I lived in a big city (Chicago, New York, etc.) I’d have some great fun tracking down some of the things she talks about. And she gave insight into T. J. Maxx, which now intrigues me. I didn’t realize they were like an outlet mall; I thought they sold their own stuff. (They don’t, they resell other store’s clothes.) While I’m still content with my chinos from Lands’ End and the thrift stores and the green and off whilte shirts from the same, I still found the information interesting and gleaned a few little tips here and there. (Like Boy Girl Party which has some really cool t shirt designs. Meaning, I bought one.)

One thing I didn’t care for was the extensive listings of websites. While in the above case, it was great and the site was still there, out of the other half dozen I tried, two were gone. That’s not good odds, and the downfall of books with website listings. (I once was given a book that was over 50% links. That book wouldn’t be valuable for long!)

And hey! Wisconsin was even mentioned! Somehow, she found a fashion trend here before it became trendy elsewhere. I have no idea what in the world that could have been, as blaze orange clothing and cheesehead hats really aren’t all that popular.

I reviewed this book because another blog pointed out her offer to send it free to anyone willing to review it on their blog. I couldn’t pass up a free book (on a topic I was interested in, at least). I did enjoy reading it and would recommend it to others. And now, I have at least two friends who I believe are budget fashionistas (or at least should be!)…I just have to decide who will get this book! I think they would both love it. (Maybe I’ll buy it for the other person.)

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July 9th, 2007 - A Place in the Woods by Helen Hoover

A Place in the Woods by Helen Hoover is her tale of moving to the woods back in 1954. The book covers their first year in a cabin and a summer cottage in the north woods of Minnesota. (So, of course, I HAD to read it.) From having almost no money (after buying not one but two houses) to their car getting wrecked (45 miles to the Village) to a bear in the basement to the beauty of the north woods in the winter and the spring and the summer….A great story of 2 city folks adapting to living in the wilderness. An excellent read!

And now to get her book that tells of their life later on, Gift of the Deer, but which was written before this one. And maybe a couple others she also wrote–they sound like they could also be about this place.

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July 9th, 2007 - Hit by a Farm by Catherine Friend

Hit by a Farm by Catherine Friend is the delightful tale of a woman who never wanted to live on a farm but agrees to her partner’s wish to do so. It’s a leave nothing unsaid look at becoming farmers, from the funny to the gross. A great story for anyone who thinks they want to do it, and for those of us who just dream about, knowing we never actually will. For either side, it includes lovely stories that make it sound wonderful as well as the awful things you’ll also have to face.

Also, a tale of how she came to carve out a separate life for her writing and not get sucked 100% into working the farm, which she honestly did not want to do.

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April 3rd, 2007 - You Can Hear Me Now book review

Last week, I read another fascinating book related to microcredit, this time about cell phones, You Can Hear My Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones are Connecting the World’s Poor to the Global Economy by Nicholas P. Sullivan. This book focused on Bangladesh’s GrameenPhone-from pre-conception through red tape through to successful implementation. There’s also quite a bit about similar initiatives in other countries. (The end got rather boring, and sounds like a good text for an econ or business course.) If you are interested in microcredit, you’ll enjoy (most of) this book! (If you aren’t, I’d recommend books about GrameenBank itself first.)

I don’t know whether it’s just my strong interest in microcredit or the author’s superb storytelling, but this story was captivating! I was rooting for the folks behind the initiative, couldn’t wait to see what would happen next, couldn’t believe the roadblocks they faced. Of course, because of the title, I knew they “won” in the end, but I still wondered what would happen to them along the way.

Having had a cell phone for just 18 months, I’m not very connected to cell phone culture, and I don’t ever expect to (at least not in the next decade). But reading about how they are and have changed the world elsewhere is making me think differently about them. See, in most 3rd world countries, and even in many 2nd world ones, land lines are few and far inbetween. Outside of major cities, they are non-existant. Usually, the telephone companies are government owned and have little interest in the expense of laying lines out to the rural poor. Cell phone companies, on the other hand, have a relatively easier job of connecting distant users. (Very relative; it’s still quite difficult.)

And getting one cell phone in a village can change it dramatically. In one village, 6 months after the phone arrived, bank deposits (an indication of income/savings) rose 80%! One of the specific things the phone allows is for sellers to call around for the best price–or any price at all–rather than to haul things to markey and wonder what the price will be or if there will even be a buyer. On a non-monetary side, they allow relatives to stay in touch and people to contact medical professionals. The guy who started the whole idea for GrameenPhone long remembers the day he walked 10 miles to find a doctor only to find the doctor gone collecting medicinal plants. Imagine if he had been able to call that morning and make an appointment.

The book really shows how connectivity can change the world.

See post on Kiva for more info on microcredit.

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December 13th, 2006 - ‘Tis a Gift to be Simple book review

‘Tis a Gift to be Simple: Embracing the Freedom of Living with Less by Barbara DeGrote-Sorensen and David Allen Sorensen is one couple’s story of how they embraced voluntary simplicity. It’s relatively typical of such books from the early 90s. However, it’s very Christ-centered. If you are interested in living simply due to your Christian beliefs or are interested in hearing more about how Christ’s life and the Bible encourage simple living, this book is probably for you. It even includes at the end a 6-week Bible study/reflection.

I have never been interested in living simply due to Christ or the Bible, so it really wasn’t for me. In 30 minutes or so, I skimmed through it looking just for their story. There wasn’t much of it, actually, which was disappointing. There’s some, and it’s interesting, but it’s hard to find.

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December 12th, 2006 - Simply Green book review

Simply Green Giving by Danny Seo is a delightful little book with lots of gift wrapping ideas. It’s all about recycling and using unusual items for wrapping that you can get for free, have lying around the house, or that serve multiple purposes (such as wrapping a gift with a scarf).

I wish I had read it before I wrapped my Christmas gifts. But I haven’t bought wrapping paper in ages. I reuse bags mainly, and I do try to be a little creative. (I was much more creative when wrapping as a kid. In fact, I begged Mom to let me wrap gifts because I enjoyed it so much!) I did wrap one gift in something else that’s also a gift. I can’t be more specific because it’s my brother’s gift and he reads this blog. (Hi, Michael!)

Speaking of which, he once gave me a gift wrapping in a very large sheet of paper on which he’d painted a Christmas tree. I loved that and hung it up for years, including here at work, at the holidays. I think I still have it in our holiday box.

Speaking of which, if you read other blogs, you have probably been hearing a lot about holiday preparations on them. Or if you write, writing about your own. You may have noticed a lack of commentary on that here. That’s because I’ve done precisely NOTHING about the holidays so far. Well, I bought all my gifts long ago and wrapped them in Sept (when I sliced my thumb) or over Thanksgiving (the inlaws). We intend to buy a tree one of these days, but may have to wait till after the windows are replaced. I’m not big on decorating, so haven’t done anything for the last few years. Eric wants us to decorate for Maggie now so we’ll do a little bit. But since I have no interest in it, and choose to not do things that stress me out or aren’t of interest, I am not pushing to do so. When he’s interested, we’ll do it. Otherwise, I’m perfectly happy with an unobtrusive holiday.

There are three things I want to do to celebrate:

1. Plan my garden order on the Solstice. I think thinking of spring and summer is a perfect thing to do on this day!
2. Go see the lights. This is our long-standing holiday tradition.
3. Attend the Solstice celebration at the UU. It was a lot of fun and interesting last year, although it takes place almost an entire week early this year.

Oh, and we’ll probably watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy on Christmas Eve again. And I’ll make a few cookies and olive nut spread. But only if I feel like it. And I won’t miss them if I skip it or wait until after the holiday. Oh, wait! I also hope to potty train Maggie that weekend!

Now that might make the holidays a little stressful. LOL

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November 6th, 2006 - The Stars, The Snow, The Fire

The Stars, The Snow, The Fire by John Haines is another book I dropped before getting far. The first chapter revolved around hunting/trapping and it was just too much for me. I’m not interested in killing animals to any great degree and it wasn’t a good way to start a book.

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November 6th, 2006 - Good-bye Boise…Hello Alaska and Dear Cora

Good-bye Boise…Hello Alaska and Dear Cora by Cora Holmes are a delightful pair of books about a single Mom with two boys who moved to Alaska to help on a remote ranch. The first book follows a year in their life a few years later after she married the ranch owner. The second was in response to all the letters they received to answer many questions readers had had. The ranch is located on Unalaska island in the Aleutian Island Chain. They are 80 miles from the nearest village, over a mountain range! Usually, they go by plane or boat which is much farther. They grocery shop once every two years. They get mail about 4 times a year. And less snow than Oshkosh.

Enjoyable, simple books. The only disappointment is that I was very frustrated by Cora–she’s scared of horses, scared her boys will drown, scared they’ll get hurt sledding, scared…. There was a lot of this and it was a bit tiring. Why did she move to remote Alaska if she was so scared of everything? But the rest of the stories are delightful. And what a simple life they have to live!

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October 27th, 2006 - ‘I Could Write a Book’

‘I Could Write a Book’ by Roy Reiman. Reiman is the publisher of the Country magazines I picked up on my stay-at-home-Mom weekend. This is his autobiography. I love the magazine even more. Something I hadn’t really noticed while reading them is that they have NO ads (other than for a few of their own products like books and other magazines). (This may be because I try to ignore advertising in magazines.) His story is about a company bucking the trend and doing what, even after publishing for 15 years, everyone said was impossible. (Reader’s Digest also used to be ad free. Sadly, they quit that a while back. Interestingly, they bought the Reiman company a couple years ago.)

With a very successful model, Reiman became richer and richer, but that’s definitely not seen in the story, except for the occasional note about things I would never be able to do like charter a jet one morning and run off to see someone. Anyway, he had humble beginnings, never seemed to forget that, and used a lot of simple/frugal ideas to run his company. His magazines are written primarly by the readers. I’m not sure how they remain successful in the Internet age, but when he began them, there were few ways for folks across the country to communicate with each other and share ideas, recipes, pictures, etc, with strangers.

I might know the answer because I loved the magazine so much I’m thinking about a subscription! Sure, I can find similar things online but I don’t take the time to seek them out. And, possibly more important to making my decision to get it, Country is a magazine I can give to Maggie and never worry once about disturbing pictures. There won’t be dead people with blood (like say our Newsweek) or armed militias (ditto plus Smithsonian) or articles about drugs (like Sports Illustrated). She still looks at the pictures in the one I gave her 3 weeks ago. I was going to Freecycle the others, but I’m thinking about keeping them around for her. I love having her look at pictures of farm animals, snow capped mountains, rolling fields, etc! And, since there are SO many pictures in the magazine, it’s a lot more fun to look at with her since we can talk about the pictures. Isn’t quite the same with Smithsonian, which we “read” last night and were finished quite quickly! Plus, there aren’t any ads!

Okay, I just talked myself into the subscription. Unfortunately, they have at least two other magazines that also sound good! I’m surprised, after reading the company story, that they never developed a magazine about frugality/simply living. It would fit right in.

One last note: They are located in Greendale, WI, on the south side of Milwaukee. I’d heard of this town recently, too: It was a planned community during the Depression and has some very interesting features. (See the link for more info.) I can’t wait to take a tour of it! Sounds like parents’ kind of place, too. The magazines publish a lot of recipes–oh, if you’ve heard of Taste of Home that’s this place–and have a test kitchen there. If you’re lucky, you get to sample dishes. In addition, the winner of a national cookie contest is only sold there. And it’s called mmmMinnesota Crunchers. I have the cookbook on ILL and every other recipe sounds so good I think I’m going to buy it. I HAVE to try the winner of this contest if the non-winners are this good! (13000+ entries, 250 best in the book.)

Let’s just finish by saying that this book was very inspiring and captivating. I didn’t want to put it down. It was a very fun read, as well.

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October 27th, 2006 - A Place in the Country

A Place in the Country by Peter H. Matson isn’t what I expected it to be. For starters, it’s a book about building a house rather than living in the country. For enders, the writing style was so …I don’t know what to call it… that I quit after only part of the first chapter. I had absolutely no interest in this guy’s story after the first page but I kept trying. It wasn’t worth it. Thumbing through now to write this, I notice that there aren’t any quotation marks. Maybe that’s what it is–I feel like I’m reading the guy’s mind and it’s boring and too single-person. Someone else might like it, I won’t go so far as I did with the other one I hated recently (second book), but it just wasn’t for me.

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October 27th, 2006 - A Small Farm in Maine

David recommended this book and I immediately checked it out (ILL rocks!) A Small Farm in Maine by Terry Silber. He was right–I did love it! Unlike most of the back to the landers, Terry and her husband Mark took things slowly and carefully and with a lot of education. In all fairness, this is more a book about building a small business (the farm and what it leads to) than going back to the land.

Education: When they didn’t know something or simply got interested in something, they learned all they could about. Books, friends, strangers, store owners, etc. In so many other stories, folks just did something, and when they didn’t know enough, it often turned to disaster. Terry and Mark, for the most part at least with the bigger issues, took the smarter route. This helped them become very successful!

Slowly: Terry owned the house and land before she met Mark (if I recall correctly). It was a vacation spot for a while, then a weekend spot, then a weekend farm, then a long weekend farm. Only after a few years of success with farmer’s markets did they move full time.

The book both inspired me (made we think again about growing enough of some things to sell at the farmer’s market) and made me realize that I’ll never do that (or at least, no time soon). I really am not interested in all it would entail and am content to grow what we’ll eat and a bit that I can give away!

Overall, an excellent book and I would strongly recommend it to folks looking to start their own small homebased business, back to the landers, and simple living folks.

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October 13th, 2006 - Multiple books to review

In preparation for my days off, I checked out a bunch of frugal books. I did get through some, but not all after finding those Country magazines. Here are the ones I did get to.

The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest by Carol W. Costenbader. What I like about this cookbook is that many recipes are for small batches. It’s not about making 20 pints of jam but 2 or 3. It’s the wrong time of year for most of the recipes, but I did copy a half dozen to try out. I may get it again next summer when fruit is ripe and try a few jams. There are recipes for drying, canning, freezing, and refrigerating.

Wilderness Wife by Bradford and Vena Angier. I didn’t finish reading this. I only kept on after the first chapter in hopes there would be something good. Yesterday, I decided it just wasn’t worth it when I had so many other good books awaiting my attention! Some of the bad parts: The story picks up after they have already lived in the woods for 4 years, returned to the city, then came back. In the first chapter, they go out on a hike seeking edibles. In such a situation, would any two people actually have a conversation about such things as how good X is because of the vitamin B12 it has? Or how to find the beloved plant that they had obviously eaten before? No! For heavens sake, these would be conversations (and in a more realisitic way) they would have had four years prior when the unfamiliar person was being told about the wonders of plant X. Interesting parts of their story are completely skipped–such as those first four years and how they built a new cabin 4 months into the new story. That story skipped from hauling in the wood to moving in. Hello???? We want to know how in the world you managed to build this house in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, not worth reading.

Living Well on a Shoestring and Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs, and More are two compilations from Yankee Magazine. I didn’t read much of these either. They might work well for newcomers or for sitting on your shelf to be read a page or tip at a time. They quickly became very boring. They are also repeats of all the other compilations of tips. Not what I was hoping for. I like novels and stories better.

Arctic Homestead by Norma Cobb and Charles W. Sasser. Norma Cobb was the last woman in Alaska to file a homestead claim (in 1974ish) and this is her story. It’s a WONDERFUL account of their “survival and courage in the Alaskan wilds” (as the cover announces). The Cobbs (two adults and 5 kids) start off with very little money but big dreams. Simply getting to Alaska takes a few years and we get to follow it all. Their homesteading itself is most of the book and gets right to the nitty gritty, from a gun accident in the wilderness to runins with neighbors to trying to grow a garden to hunting and trapping. They are far from perfect, far from knowing what they are getting into, but end up coming out on top. (As opposed to most of the other 115 people to homestead during the last year. Only 2 completed their claims.) A thrilling tale that made me want to homestead while at the same time helping me understand why we could never ever accomplish it! I would definitely recommend this one and will probably read it again some day.

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October 3rd, 2006 - Moving Up Country

Moving Up Country: A Yankee Way of Knowledge by Don Mitchell did not meet my expections. It’s a series of magazine columns by a former city dweller who moves with his wife to Vermont. It starts with the typical back to the land, not knowing anything, idealism of many books I’ve enjoyed. But I didn’t care for his attitude for most of what he does–quite often he abandons the idealism very quickly when things get tough. He also doesn’t do his homework (a journalist who doesn’t research???) and quite often does things in foolish, stupid, expensive, harder ways. The books is supposedly “hilarious” but I rarely found him funny.

There’s no mention of how and where they have to money to do what they do. Most back-to-the-landers deal with the issue, whether it’s that they are scraping by, have an inheritance, or hold a full time job. I have no idea how they could afford what they did.

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October 3rd, 2006 - The Fat of the Land

Requested a number of frugal/back to the land books lately in preparation for a long weekend coming up. I couldn’t resist reading some right away however!

The Fat of the Land by John Seymour was a delightful read. One of the more interesting aspects is that he lives in England–a different perspective on a number of things (not to mention things I’ve never heard of such as a vegetable called a mangle). Another case of folks who were able to afford this due to a writer–he wrote for tv and radio and appears to have been relatively successful. It caused him to be gone from the farm for weeks at a time, which offered another interesting point to their story–they did a number of things that could be abandoned for periods of time! (They also farmed out their livestock and had someone come in to give food to the ones that couldn’t go out.) The book takes place in the 40s or 50s. The edition I read has an afterward 13 years later where he notes that land prices have risen so much that what they did is near impossible now. There’s a companion volume I also have on the shelf that focuses on particular crops and livestock and his advice on how to grow them. Not nearly as interesting as their story.

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June 15th, 2006 - What I’ve been reading

Lately, I’ve read a string of back to the land books, plus a few others related to living below your means and/or following your dreams.

Home is the Sailor by Robin Lee Graham picks up where Dove ended. Dove is the story of a 16-21 year old boy’s trip around the world in a sailboat. Certainly involved frugal living, but I read that book for it’s adventure! Home is about his family’s (he met his wife halfway through the trip and they had a baby shortly after he got back) homesteading in Montana. As a book I’ll review later points out about other successful homesteaders, Robin did have some alternative income–not only did Dove get published but it was also made into a movie. Yes, they had lean times while waiting for some of those checks, but they were able to get by better having them come in! I definitely enjoyed this book. It’s also about their conversion to Christianity, which gets a bit heavy at times–something Robin pionts out to the reader in the end–he realized how strong they’d come across to friends and family as well!

The Butterfly Hunter by Chris Ballard is subtitled “Adventures of people who found their true calling way off the beaten path.” Eric discovered this book for us; the author is a Sport’s Illustrated staff writer. Some of those profiled live lean lives in order to follow their hearts desire. At least one (The Skywalker, also known, legally, as Spiderman) is making millions from it. One man is someone we’ve all heard, but probably never heard of: The man who does the vast majority of movie and tv show trailers! I’ve heard of him before, so I actually try to figure out if he’s voicing trailers I see (now that I use Tivo, I rarely see any anymore anyway). It was neat to read his whole story of how he got there. In fact, I loved all of the stories. I think it is wonderful to follow your heart’s desire and have a true calling. (I’m just wondering if everyone has a calling or if most of us just don’t have one so can’t find it to pursue anyway.)

Homestead by Jane Kirkpatrick [Sorry Jeanne–I had the wrong first name! No wonder we couldn’t find her books in the library catalogs.] is a wonderful story of homesteading in the 80s. A bit later than the typical back-to-the-land stories of the 70s. On the other hand, Jane and Jerry are still living on their 160 acres in the middle of nowhere Oregon. They are 7 miles from the nearest paved road and 20-something from the nearest town. For the first years, they were 3 miles or so from the nearest phone. Then they were told it would cost about $20000 to get phone lines to them! See, it really is the middle of nowhere! Jane is also much less enthusiastic than typical writers about this new home. She throws herself into it, but has lots of regrets. This book is much more honest about the problems and scariness of homesteading. But in the end, they do make it. (It helps that Jane becomes not just a writer, but an award winning writer. I loved this book so much I can’t wait to find her novels to read.) The Kirkpatricks also didn’t start off intending to live without electricity. water, etc. They were more realistic, I think, than many of the 70s landers. If you get this one, look for the most recent edition. The book never comes right out and says this is a second edition, but she talks about writing and publishing the same book by about 2/3rds of the way through. This is obviously expanded from the original. Frugal for Life recommended this book (and told me about the last book I reveiw in this post at the same time). [Note: If you use Bloglines, they now have the ability to search the feeds to which you subscribe. I adore this as I usually forget by the time I review a book who told me about it!]

Shackleton’s Stowaway by Victoria McKernan covers a part of history that fascinates me: exploration of Antarctica. This time, instead of a book about/by the leader or scientists on the voyage, this is the story of one of the able seaman on Shackleton’s ill-fated voyage. Perce Blackborrow actually stowed away when the Endurance sailed from Beunos Aires; 18, he was the youngest member of the voyage. Talk about living frugally! (If you aren’t familiar with the story, the Endurance was caught by pack ice in one of the worst Antarctic winters, and continued to be stuck through the following summer. Well, by that time, the boat had sunk and they were in small boats. The entire story is quite amazing and lasts about 2 years. The most amazing thing is that NO ONE died. Not even Perce, who is immobile the last 4 months on Elephant Island nor another man who suffers a heart attack at the beginning of those 4 months.)

Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine has been making the rounds in the blogosphere so I had to read it, too. It’s my least favorite of the books I’ve read recently. It was hard for me to connect with Levine as her lifestyle, even when “not shopping” is pretty far from mine. Some people complain about her somewhat lengthy political statements (which are germaine to what she’s doing) but I happen to agree with her, so they didn’t bother me. On the other hand, I didn’t connect much with wondering whether QTips were necessary items (no, they aren’t. Use a bit of TP or tissue instead, deal with it) or wine (uh, no, and you shouldn’t have allowed yourselves to stock up on it before the year started either). Oh, and food was okay, and they allowed themselves a good deal of gourmet food as well. I do wish she’d tracked spending during this time. She does note that she paid off a credit card debt during the first few months due to not shopping, but little beyond that is covered. Overall, there are good parts to get you thinking about what really is necessary and whether you could live for a year with spending very little. Here are some other reviews/comments from blogs I read: Boston Gal’s Open Wallet (which describes the book in more detail), Seattle Simplicity, and Frugal for Life’s review.

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My Adventures in Simple Living

Archive for the 'Book reviews' Category

August 25th, 2008 - Book review: Patriots by James Wesley, Rawles

July 3rd, 2008 - Book review: Alas, Babylon

July 1st, 2008 - Book review: The Rising

June 30th, 2008 - Book review: We Belong to the Land

June 3rd, 2008 - Book review: America’s Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money

August 31st, 2007 - How to be a Budget Fashionista by Kathryn Finney

July 9th, 2007 - A Place in the Woods by Helen Hoover

July 9th, 2007 - Hit by a Farm by Catherine Friend

April 3rd, 2007 - You Can Hear Me Now book review

December 13th, 2006 - ‘Tis a Gift to be Simple book review

December 12th, 2006 - Simply Green book review

November 6th, 2006 - The Stars, The Snow, The Fire

November 6th, 2006 - Good-bye Boise…Hello Alaska and Dear Cora

October 27th, 2006 - ‘I Could Write a Book’

October 27th, 2006 - A Place in the Country

October 27th, 2006 - A Small Farm in Maine

October 13th, 2006 - Multiple books to review

October 3rd, 2006 - Moving Up Country

October 3rd, 2006 - The Fat of the Land

June 15th, 2006 - What I’ve been reading

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